Friday, July 27, 2012

1. BEST video games ever are all about the zombies. Now I’m not going to list them but I will give you a link if you want to go and scan through a bunch, I mean like PAGES. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_zombie_video_games On a more personal note, my favorites are Resident Evil 4 and *drumroll* . Plants Vs Zombies ;p

2. Your grossness comes in a plenitude of varieties which for any good zombie-ite is necessary—rotting skin, slimy fingers, puking blood, sagging flesh, eating brains, slurping intestines, heads twisted the wrong way, limbs twisted the wrong way, eyeballs hanging out, eyeballs missing, flapping tongues (eek that’s one that always gives me the shivers), and last but not least nasty breath. Okay, maybe that last one is a guess, but you have to admit it’s highly likely.

3. Zombie speeds can vary greatly and that makes them freaky. One minute they’re shambling along and you can easily outrun them, the next they’re faster than the fat kid diving after the bowl of candy. I personally love a fast zombie, far scarier, far more likely to eat those horrid neighbours that play loud music all night and shoot fireworks at your animals. Not that I have any personal experience with this. I’m just saying.

4. It doesn’t matter how many zombie movies are done, they just don’t lose their appeal. I mean, even if the movie is HORRIBLY done (now admit it, there are a few of those) we still watch it. So while we might jeer and throw popcorn, we can’t stay away. Must. Watch.Zombies.

http://youtu.be/9dodWjF1uW8

Shannon Mayer is the author of “Sundered, A Zombie-ish Apocalypse” Her Zombies are fast, hunt in packs like wolves and came about by way of a weight loss shot gone very, very wrong. Throw in some good old fashioned love and you’ve got yourself a new twist on the Zombie trope.

Friday, July 20, 2012

What are the challenges you face as a writer in your genre?: Writing Children’s Books for the First Time
by Suzanne Anderson

When I decided to write God Loves You. – Chester Blue, it wasn’t because I had a burning desire to write a children’s book. It was because Chester Blue, the blue teddy bear, modeled after the first teddy bear I sewed myself, needed a story to be written about him. Second, at the time, I was fascinated by stories about inanimate characters that ‘just appeared’ bearing mysterious messages. In the case of this story, crafting the message was easy: I wanted something inspirational. If this was to be a message that appeared out of the blue, than why not make it an encouraging message from God?

So, I had the character, I had the premise (what if you received a message from God, just when you needed it most?) the question was, who was my audience?

It seemed obvious that Chester Blue would appeal most to children. After all, who would better relate, than a child, to a blue teddy bear magically appearing carrying a message from God?

How would writing a book for children differ from writing for adults? Would I have to change my writing style? Were there specific dos and don’ts that I needed to adhere to?

The first answer is that I only asked these questions after I’d written the first draft of my book. And I think that’s very important. I believe that it is so easy to get caught up in the mechanics, the ‘how to’, of creating the story that you research the thing to death and never get around to writing or worse, completing, your book!

Once I’d written my story, these questions sent me off to one of my favorite hometown haunts, our public library. There I spoke with one of our incredibly knowledgeable librarians from the children’s section. She walked me through the rows of books and piled my arms with children’s books that would become my teachers.

The two books that had the greatest impact on me were The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo, and The Heavenly Village by Cynthia Rylant.

What I learned from Kate DiCamillo was that you don’t have to write ‘down’ to children. Yes, the concepts and perhaps even the plot lines will be simpler, but the language can be as rich and textured as any novel for grownups. This is absolutely the case in Edward Tulane, which is so beautifully written that it can be enjoyed equally by children and adults.

Cynthia Rylant’s Heavenly Village taught me that children’s books can deal with difficult topics, such as death and the afterlife, if treated with gentleness and respect. Cynthia Rylant is a master of both in her beautifully written book that treats a scary topic with love and even the occasional laugh.

The lesson learned, which I believe would apply to writing for the first time in any genre is this: write your story. Then take the time to read from the masters of your genre to see how expected touchstones are handled with skill and experience. The combination of both will lead to a satisfying story for your readers. I hope I’ve accomplished that in God Loves You. – Chester Blue.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Most of us have heard of the story of Faust or some variation of it. Faust unhappy with his life and the limited things he has makes a deal with the devil. An arrangement where he wants more from life and exchanges his soul, (his moral integrity) to achieve the things he longs for and are out of reach for him. He cares more about power, success and worldly pleasures and is willing to trade his soul to have them.

If this were truly an option for you to choose today how many would take the deal? If offered all the things money and power could provide you in your life now and for the next 24 years would you think it worth the final outcome? The final outcome being eternal damnation, your soul spending eternity in the fires of hell.

In this situation there is no debate over whether heaven and hell exist. The devil has approached Faust and offered him everything he could possibly want while alive; would you consider it? Would you take a determined amount of time on earth with unlimited money, power, and success?

The difference with this tale and people today who have attained these things in their life; money, power and success, is many of them don't carry a strong faith and believe there is a heaven or hell. That what they have and do now is all there is, no consequences for their actions, once given to the earth that is our end. So at what cost are we willing to attain these things? Money, houses, cars and other material possessions may be part of your life but is integrity, character and a sense of duty worth more than all of that? Should you take time to make a difference, to realize and understand relationships are more important than accomplishments if you've allowed those to take a back seat to material possessions. That a persons character is worth much more than power, money and success.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Ha! I guess we should start with the ones I made: sending material out before it’s done, lack of proofreading, lack of patience. Patience is the big one, though. Writing takes time. You have to re-write and edit. You have to read things over and over. You have to be sure about what you’re trying to say.

I originally sold my book Saving Mary: The Possession (under a different title) to a large publishing house (back in 2002/03). Looking back, I see that I had originally sold a first draft; and as the publishing process chugged along, I became more and more uncomfortable about my book being released. It simply wasn’t finished, at least not in the way I meant for it to be done. My lack of focus (I personally think) transferred to the publishing house and I was soon faced with a problem: what I had meant to be a “personal memoir” had somehow turned into “Christian fiction.” Eventually I was allowed out of my contract so that I could rework the book as true memoir. You see, I had changed my name (and the names of most people in the book) simply because I was uncomfortable with being in a book (I figured other people might be just as uncomfortable).

I didn’t think this would be a problem since “A rose is a rose, by any other name.” But it was. First of all, you simply can’t be uncomfortable with being in a book if you want to write a memoir. You just have to get over yourself. This is your life: your experiences, your friends, your view. You have to own it. The second problem was that the author of A Million Little Pieces had just been scolded by Oprah for not sticking to the rules of memoir. My publisher wanted to take no chances and so they switched my book to “fiction.” Without consulting me. So, with all this being said, make sure you finish your book, staying true to the vision you see and hear in your head.

The other big mistake I see writers making is showing their work to the wrong people. Not everyone should critique your work. Not everyone believes you can succeed as a writer. And too many opinions can confuse a new writer. Figure out what you want to say and then work at saying it as best you can.